Five Friends From Meerut Saved 100 Litres Of Milk On Shivratri By Using A Clever Hack

Religions in India are varied and the Gods we worship are many. Every god has a different ritual that worshippers staunchly follow. The most common one pertains to the use of food to offer to the idols. From pouring milk over the Shiva idol every Monday to pouring oil over the Hanuman idol every Tuesday/Saturday, a lot of edible things, which could otherwise be used to battle the problem of hunger in India, gets wasted. But that’s a topic of debate for later.

What if we paused the debate, though, and instead devised a plan to satisfy both the parties – the worshipers and the one’s worried about the wastage? That’s exactly what these five friends from Meerut did.

Karan Goel and his friends came up with a system to stop the wastage of milk in Meerut. The five friends managed to save about a 100 litres of milk on Shivratri by testing their simple device in the Saket Shiva temple.

According to TOI, Karan would always be reluctant to go to the Shiva temple because he couldn’t see the wastage of milk like that. He discussed this issue with four of his friends, who devised the contraption. He said,

The apparatus was set up on a steel tripod above the shivling. Nishant Singhal, studying BCA from IIMT College, Meerut, is one of the five friends to come up with this simple yet smart system. He said,

“We spent only Rs 2,500 to develop this system. We will be uploading videos on our Facebook page ‘India Against Hunger’ so that it can be replicated by people in other cities.”

To ensure that the milk doesn’t get contaminated, they sought expert advice from Parag Milk Foods. Anmol Sharma said,

“We were told that the only way to ensure the milk doesn’t get contaminated is by storing it in steel containers and by appealing to the devotees to pour only plain milk on the kalash. Often, people add flower petals and other things to the milk. Through pamphlets, we request such people to pour milk directly on the shivling and not on the kalash.”

They first tested the milk in Saket temple and expected to save 50 litres on Shivratri. But to their utter surprise and joy, they had saved 100 litres milk by afternoon on Shivratri. All of the saved milk was sent to Satyakaam Manav Seva Samiti, which is an organization for orphaned and HIV-positive kids.

The students/friends have handed the apparatus to the authorities of the temple. The temple they tested it in has promised to send a portion of the milk offered to the idol to underprivileged kids every Monday.

While no one is against the religious practices that anyone decides to follow, even God would want us to take care of our fellow humans first before offering delicacies to his/her idol. Maybe if all worshippers make it their responsibility to do more to feed people than idols, God will be happier and kinder with us.

Kudos to Karan Goel and friends for being so thoughtful and initiating a change.